Book Reviews: Galileo: Orbiting Science's First Superstar

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Galileo: Watcher of the Skies by David Wootton Yale UP, 354pp, GBP25 Galileo JL Heilbron Oxford UP, 354pp, GBP20

It is 400 years since Galileo Galilei pointed his little home- made telescope at the sky and saw for the first time the mountains of the Moon, phases of Venus and satellites of Jupiter, finding evidence of Copernicus's theory that Earth was not after all the centre of the universe. The quatercentenary is marked by two excellent biographies, each a model of scholarship, though quite different in character. While both authors are historians of science, David Wootton's background is in history while JL Heilbron trained in physics. This is evident from first glance: Heilbron delves deeply into Galileo's theoretical methods, offering diagrams and equations that might intimidate the general reader but will appeal to mathematically literate ones, while Wootton's narrative is purely verbal, divided into bite-sized thematic chapters. But the contrast goes further: Heilbron's style is the more flamboyant, Wootton's the more readable. Heilbron's book is expansive, digressive, occasionally self-indulgent; Wootton's is pacey, keen to emphasise original findings, and reads in parts like a conference paper. Heilbron's is sure to be the definitive technical study for years to come; Wootton's is aimed at a wider audience. Galileophiles will naturally wish to have both, and will not be disappointed with either.

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Book Reviews: Galileo: Orbiting Science's First Superstar

One thing everybody knows about Pisan-born Galileo is that he stood at the top of the Leaning Tower and dropped two objects of differing weight which landed at the same time, thus disproving Aristotle and establishing a basic principle of modern physics. Wootton devotes a chapter to this supposed event, for which the only testimony comes from ...

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